Dentistry From The Heart a success, thanks to volunteersFebruary 11, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Victoria LaFave
906/466-0070
By Victoria LaFave
Iron Mountain, MI People started arriving at 4 am and were waiting bundled up in blankets in the parking lot of a local business Saturday morning. No, they weren’t waiting to attend a concert, or to buy the latest video game system. They showed up to receive free dental care at the Fornetti Dental Center in Iron Mountain.
Dr. Kristy Fornetti, Dr. Stephen Kaad, Dr. Kirsten Kaad, and Dr. John Fornetti, all donated their services to the community Saturday in a free dental services program entitled Dentistry From The Heart. At the third annual event, over 150 people received free dental care.
Founded in Tampa, Florida in 2001, Dentistry From The Heart started as Dr. Vincent Monticciolo’s way of giving back to his community and providing aid to the growing number of Americans without dental insurance. The national event is planned around Valentine’s Day, to go with the theme of Dentistry From The Heart.
With the number of Americans living without dental insurance on the rise, my desire is for more dentists to look to Dentistry From The Heart as a way to directly impact lives and provide invaluable services to their community, said Dr. Vincent Monticciolo.
Since 2005, Dr. Monticciolo has enlisted more than 60 dental practices, including the Fornetti Center, across the United States to host their own events. With their help, the national program, Dentistry From The Heart, has now served more than 10,000 people and given away more than $2.5 million in free dental work.
At the Iron Mountain event, it took 40 volunteers to make the program a success, including dentists, dental hygienists, assistants, office staff members, and community members who all generously donated their services.
One woman, Shanna Smith, drove from Neenah, Wisconsin to get her tooth either filled or extracted, depending on the dentist’s professional opinion. This is a great thing, Smith said. This saved me over $240 to come here today, so I’m very thankful.
Another patient, who chose to remain anonymous, drove over 50 miles in the fog early this morning to get my teeth filled, he said. He also expressed his thanks to the Fornetti dentists, staff and all the volunteers for giving their time and services.
Some of the donations included: Medications for those in need from Steve Roell, owner of The Drug Store; a large canvas tent from the National Guard, complete with heaters, so that patients could keep warm and out of the cold while waiting to be seen; generous donations of food and beverages from Econo Foods and Wal-Mart of Iron Mountain, MI; sub sandwiches from Subway restaurants and pizza from the local Pizza Hut .
Many members of the community who simply believed in the program also donated their time in helping with the event. One of these volunteers, Al Tobey, helped to notify people sitting in the tent or in their cars when it was their time to be seen. He said there’s definitely a need for dentistry services in the area. There are a lot of doggone nice people who just can’t afford dentistry, he said, so this is a really nice program to be involved with.
Two area men from the band Bad Axe Rodeo, Daryle Ryan and Bob Nichols, even donated their D.J. services and equipment so that patients could enjoy listening to music while waiting.
For more information on the national event, see dentistryfromtheheart.org.
Victoria LaFave is an area freelance writer who writes for local businesses. She can be reached at 906/466-0070.
